Stags Stop #7 Cal Lutheran 5-1 in NCAA Opener

May 11, 2012

CMS Stags Tennis won a 5-1 decision over 7th ranked Cal Lutheran
in second round NCAA action on Friday and will face #6 UC Santa
Cruz in the west region final Saturday. Freshman Nik Marino (San Diego, CA [pictured
right]) won at #2 doubles and then provided the clinching singles
victory at #4.

Cal Lutheran was first on the scoreboard after winning 8-2 at #3
doubles, earning their lone point of the dual match. Stags' #2 pair
Warren Wood (Fr. - Del Mar, CA) and
Marino evened the score with a comfortable 8-4 victory, leaving a
re-match of the Ojai doubles final to determine which team would
have the advantage going into singles. CMS' top team Alex
Lane (Jr. - Claremont, CA) and Robbie
Erani (Sr. Capt - New York, NY) validated their Ojai
victory with a hard fought 8-6 win which kept the Stags ahead for
good.

In the singles, CMS got early leads and won first sets at five
of six positions, using their depth in the lower half of the lineup
to provide the knockout punch. Junior Mac
Cahill (Southport, CT) won his 15th match of the
season and eighth of his last nine with a straight set effort at
#6. Junior Alex Johnson (Thousand Oaks, CA)
increased the Stags lead to 4-1 with a similar 6-2, 6-3 win at #5.
With Wood up a set and early in the second at #1, and Lane poised
to close out a 6-2, 5-3 lead at #2, it was Marino at #4 who
provided the final blow for his 18th singles win of the year.

CMS will look to avenge a 6-3 loss on March 10 at UC Santa Cruz,
with the winner of Saturday's third round NCAA match advancing to
the Elite 8 in Cary, N.C.